Kiara and her daughters Jada and Imani experienced a rough few months. A death in the family unexpectedly changed finances, and Kiara fell behind on rent. When her landlord filed for eviction, Kiara was incredibly anxious. She needed a new place to live and was facing an eviction on her record. All the stress put her in the hospital for a week. All the while, Jada and Imani were going to school, Imani prepping for graduation as a senior. Fortunately, because of Jada’s involvement in the CHECK program because of her asthma, our advocates found out about the family’s legal problems and jumped in to address them. The Legal Council got the landlord to dismiss the eviction by working out a payment plan. In addition, once Kiara and the girls moved, legal advocates made sure that the girls still continued...

A new law our child health advocacy team helped shape adds developmental and social and emotional screenings to child health examinations for all children in Illinois. As a result, families will know of a child’s developmental or mental health difficulties earlier and have access to resources to address these issues. “Not only will screenings benefit both the child and family, they will also help fight stigma and increase awareness of the importance of early identification and intervention,” says Amy Zimmerman, director of the Chicago Medical-Legal Partnership for Children at Legal Council for Health Justice. Read the full press release HERE....